The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has responded to the threat by all four daytime dramas to boycott the Daytime Emmy Awards unless changes are made in a joint letter they sent to the organization’s leadership yesterday.

“Today I received correspondence raising concerns about some elements of the 2018 Daytime Emmy Awards and concerns over its administration,” Terry O’Reilly Chairman, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, said in a statement. “We have great confidence in the integrity of our Emmy awards system, and believe it effectively honors the best work being done in Daytime Television today. That having been said, we always take concerns about our systems seriously…and out of an abundance of caution I have instructed that outside counsel be retained to evaluate these concerns and conduct an independent look at them.”

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O’Reilly’s statement was in response to Deadline’s report Monday that all four daytime dramas, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days Of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless, vowed not to participate in the Daytime Emmy Awards unless changes are made to the voting and accounting practices and the way the competition is held.

In a show of unity, the four dramas made their concerns known in the letter, addressed to O’Reilly and NATAS’ interim president and CEO Adam Sharp. It was in response to the recent gaffe in which Patrika Darbo’s 2018 Daytime Emmy for her guest-starring role on Amazon’s soap opera The Bay was rescinded after NATAS found submission errors in her category and others. Last month, Darbos called out the group for its actions and called for an outside audit “to restore integrity and confidence in the awards.”

Here are a few of the concerns reps for the four shows listed in the letter:

• Voting should be limited to members of NATAS or the Television Academy.

• All members should be eligible to vote for outstanding show. The current process in which NATAS selects who votes is unacceptable.

• NATAS must stop instructing the accounting firm to disqualify certain ballots because of NATAS perception of block voting or other issues that NATAS arbitrarily deems a reason to disqualify.

• NATAS must have an arm’s length relationship with the accountants.

• Despite (NATAS senior management’s) assurance, it was clear during the April 2018 ceremony that the winners were known by many in advance. This is unacceptable.

• NATAS must hire a team, separate from the competition executive(s), to produce and executive produce the actual awards show.